Introduction
Airbus is one of the leading European multinational aerospace corporations. European
Aeronautic Defence and Space company NV is the parent company of Airbus. Airbus
Industrie GIE and Airbus SAS are the leading subsidiaries of Airbus. The company is
founded in the year 1970 by Felix Kracht. Airbus always wants to innovate new technologies
that redefined the aerospace industry. Airbus is connecting people with the different parts of
the world with its services. Airbus has partnered with over 400 operators, working on 48000
routes worldwide. Around, 12000 Airbus aircraft are in service today and connecting the
people everywhere.
The worldwide presence of Airbus
Airbus in Europe
Airbus in the Americas
Airbus in Asia-Pacific
Airbus in Africa and the Middle East
Product & Services
Commercial aircraft: Passenger aircraft, freighter family, corporate jets, aircraft and services,
cabin and comfort, cockpits, airframes, etc
Helicopters: Civil helicopters, military helicopters, corporate helicopters, used helicopters,
UAS, HCare services.
Défense: Multi-Domain-Superiority, Aircraft, UAS, Connectivity, Intelligence, and data,
MilSatCom
Space: Earth observation, telecom, navigation, In space infrastructure, On-ground
infrastructure, equipment, exploration, and business solutions.
Security: Cybersecurity, maritime, crisis management, public safety, critical infrastructure.
The production portfolio of Airbus
Currently, Airbus is working on four product lines mainly, A220, A230, A330, and A350. It
has 10,000 indirect and 3000 direct suppliers all over the world. Airbus has approx. 20 and
more than manufacturing sites and each site is producing the different parts of the aircraft. Its
plants of Airbus rely heavily on numerous suppliers for roughly 80% of the aircraft.
Airbus has 12 final assembly lines at different locations globally. The company 2 final
assembly lines for the A320 family which is a single-aisle family. Concerning this, the
company has one assembly line each for A330 and A350. A350 is the greenest ever built
assembly line by Airbus. Currently, Hamburg Germany has 4, assembly lines of A320.
Information Technology Systems in Airbus
1. SAP advanced planning optimization: It will be used for the expedition of the
largest passenger aircraft of Airbus. SAP APO will streamline the manufacturing and
business operations for the A380 Superjumbo.
2. Advanced analytics: Focus on the big data and bringing top services for the users.
Featured Skywise, an open data platform for the collection of the customer's and the
supplier's insights for a better service experience. Artificiel intelligence future combat
air system (FCAS), CIMON, ASTARTES, etc.
Problem statement
Objectives
Current Scenario
Airbus delivered around 500+ aircraft on average in a year. The year 2023 and 2024 are
going to be difficult for the aircraft industry due to the supply chain crisis. Increasing
production and accomplishing the resurgent demand after the pandemic are the major
challenges of the industry. The Russia-Ukraine war has exaggerated the issue by reducing
the dependency on purchasing raw materials like aluminum and titanium from Russia
and Ukraine region.
A significant drop of 9% is seen in the delivery of A320 single-aisle jets. Increasing the
production of A320 single aisle by rate of 65 is pivotal for airbus. See – 1.1.2 Airbus
(Commercial Aircraft) sections “Airbus Atlantic” and “Premium AEROTEC”, – 1.2.12 Social
dialogue, – 1.2.15 Responsible supply chain, – 2.1.5 Changes in Total Equity
Figure 1 Total regional spent on the supply chain in 2022
Airbus spent the highest amount in sourcing titanium aluminium and other raw materials
from Europe region specifically. As per EFESO consultants, the firm has spent around 50%
i.e. 34% in Russia for outsourcing the raw material required for its aircraft like A 320.
Figure 2 Amount spent on external outsourcing of Airbus
As per the above figure around, 84% of the total amount of 44 euro billion has been spent on
external outsourcing of commercial aircraft followed by defense and space products and
helicopters by Airbus. After the war, the company has highly dependent on countries like
France, the USA, Austria, Germany, and Spain for outsourcing of raw materials.
Supply chain problems in specific product lines
1. A320 program: Readiness as per the rate adoption levels, inventory management,
focus on engine maturity services.
2. A350 program: Accomplishing the delivery targets, adoption of rates as per traffic
evolution, and monitoring the supply chain during lead times.
3. A330 program: Managing the product competitiveness in the market of widebody
segment and monitoring the supply chain simultaneously.
4. A220 program: Engine maturity and focus on service availability are the major
concerns of the supply chain segment.
Analysis of supply chain issue from annual report of Airbus 2022
Figure 3 Supply chain figures
A significant decrease of 44000 euro million in the sourcing volume can be seen from the
above figure. The result is a direct indication of reducing the dependency on raw material
outsourcing from war-affected regions due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Reference:
https://www.supplychainmarket.com/doc/airbus-produces-new-class-of-aircraft-with-sc-
0001
https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2017-06-airbus-launches-skywise-
aviations-open-data-platform
https://www.efeso.com/knowledge/insight/the-impact-of-the-russia-ukraine-conflict-on-
the-aerospace-supply-chain-which-are-the-options-to-replace-russian-
titanium#:~:text=Among%20OEMs%2C%20Boeing%20sources%201,of%20their
%20titanium%20from%20Russia.
https://disclose.ngo/en/article/by-purchasing-russian-metals-airbus-and-safran-
indirectly-contribute-to-the-kremlins-war-effort
https://simpleflying.com/how-airbus-tackles-a220-supply-chain-issues/
